In general, financial transaction devices that are capable of managing multiple accounts, are typically designed to access only those accounts managed by the same issuer. For example, the same issuer provides both the credit card and the wholesale purchase club account to the user. As such, the issuer providing both accounts generally establishes its own application tenant storage format and management protocol related to the accounts. The established format and protocol is ordinarily different from any format or protocol used by other unrelated issuers, which provides the issuer increased control over access to the account data. Because of the differing unique protocols/formats amongst issuers, multiple issuers typically provide a transaction device corresponding to an account offered by the issuer, where the data for accessing the account is stored in that issuer's protocol/format. Thus, a user wishing to access multiple accounts managed by different issuers, must ordinarily carry at least one transaction device per issuer. Carrying multiple transaction devices can be inconvenient in that the instruments may be more easily misplaced, lost or stolen, preventing the user from accessing the account.
Another disadvantage of conventional methods of managing multiple accounts, which is related to the different issuer formats/protocols, is that, since conventional financial transaction devices typically only store application tenant information related to one issuer, the information may not be recognized by a second issuer distinct from the first. That is, the user of the financial transaction device typically is only able to use the financial transaction device at locations identified by the issuer of the transaction card. The financial transaction device may not be used at any other locations, since the locations not identified by the user will not recognize the application tenant information which is typically stored on the instrument in an issuer determined format. As such, in order to access multiple accounts managed by different issuers using different formats/protocols, the user must typically carry multiple cards, as noted above.
Further still, with the expansion and permeation of technology, more and more users typically carry multiple transaction devices and technological devices. For example, a user may carry 4-5 transaction devices, a cell phone, a PDA, a handheld device, and a laptop. When a user, for example, goes to the coffee shop, it is desirable for the user to use one device for both his purchase and his technological needs. Thus, a need exists for a technological device that can perform both transactions.